Where Demons Hide
by Prisoner 2930819
Summary: During Bane's dark revolution there is a small spark of light that brightens Gotham. She wears a mask, and looks nothing more than a child, still her flame burns brightly. Bane is intrigued by such a person as this and sets out to find her, learning about what she is and who she was he revels in what he learns. If she wants to leave him, will he let her?
1. The Spark -Prologue-

**Hello.**

**Just the basic's, I do not own anything but my character and the plot line that I have created. **

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The streets were empty, as they always were, with snow falling and creating a carpet of white on the sidewalk most people would want to be inside where they could keep themselves warm and not freeze. There were still tell tale signs of shoes prints in the snow, it meant that someone was out and about doing something.

It's in the emptiness of Gotham that killers and criminals thrive, with the help of a man called Bane the only sound that occasionally echoes through the streets is a scream. Always piercing, always scared, always alone, and isolated. With every known police officer stuck under the city, and the rest of them hiding to save their own skin there was no law in the city anymore. For that reason the innocent suffer, the innocent are targeted, and the evil run wild through everything clean and pure.

A grey sky and a city full of criminals, one could lose themselves in such a city where it's rare to find a kind voice and a warm home where everyone else is just as afraid as the next person. In this city where all hope is lost and the Batman has vanished, where riots are distinguished, and everyone that fights to save the city is killed.

There is no hope.

Of course there are those who hold onto to one man who they hope will all their being will return. When white bats appear on the side of buildings, on driveways, inside houses, and on sidewalks, one knows that there are people who still believe that the Batman will return. That no matter what Bane has done to him, no matter where he has gone, he will come back for them.

It's this city that Bane walks through the streets with a bitter stride, the one he knows to be corrupt, the one he wants to watch burn and vanish.

In this city there is someone else that also wanders through the streets with no remorse, with nothing but briskness in their step, and purpose in their gait. In the snow she is easy to spot, a mere child is what one might call her, for she barely stands at five feet and one inch. She wears a red dress that always contrasts so nicely against the white snow, long black socks that go up to her knees, small white flats, a dull grey jacket, and a messenger bag.

With black hair that hangs messily off her head there's one particular thing that everyone always notices right off the bat. Sometimes when the sun peaks through the clouds the sun reflects off the pieces of it, the simple sight of it causes people to stiffen slightly for it is not something one comes across every day.

A gas mask.

At first there was panic, a mask just like Bane's, that could only mean that the girl worked for him right? Perhaps it was that fear that helped the girl with her first few acts of revulsion; it was a lot easier to stop someone if they were already afraid of you.

There were rumors of this girl, this child, helping the innocent and the wrongly accused all over Gotham. She had medicine for the sick, bread for the hungry, and vengeance for the broken. There was something different about her though, because sometimes she would even help criminals that were struggling to get food.

No one knew her name, as much of a help as she was to people that needed it she never spoke to them, even when they asked for her name she did not respond to them. The orphans of Gotham had taken to calling her Cloudy, for it was on the cloudy days that she would appear at the orphanage with food and the occasional board game.

She never stayed at the orphanage for very long, most of the time the kids would turn their back for a second and when they turned around she would be gone.

It was around this time that the children with chalk in their hands that drew small bats on everything started to draw gas masks and clouds along with the bats that they so believed in. Cloudy was certainly no Batman, but she was a small light in a very dark place, and everyone needs light to see what they are walking towards.

At first Bane left it alone, for how long would a child called Cloudy last in such a plagued city as Gotham? When she didn't vanish or get killed he started getting curious, who was she that she would fight for both sides? Why did she wear a gas mask? Certainly the air everyone breathed was good enough for her to breathe as well, or did she feel that it was tainted and impure?

So many questions ran through his head, and all he had to do was catch her so they could be answered, but the question was, would she be easy to catch? Or would she pop up all over the city like a child playing hide and seek?

Either way it was something that would entertain him for quite a while.

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**That is all for the prologue, do continue reading.**


	2. Children with Chalk

**I have a cold. Cold's suck.**

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Red. The snow beneath them slowly turned red as the orphan boy called Allen gasped and stuttered at the mere sight of the oozing liquid. In front of him stood a stranger, one he had seen but never spoken to as the stranger would not answer anyone's words. A gas mask on her face and quickness in her step this was the one they had called Cloudy, and now because of him the girl was injured.

Taking her knife from the body of the man she just killed Cloudy stumbled and shook on her feet; leaning against the wall she had her back to Allen. It had been a simple thing that Allen had gotten caught for.

He was one of the children with chalk in his hands that drew a bat all over the city, it was a small thing, but it still made people angry. Recently when the boys went out during the day there had been people waiting for them, criminals mostly, a few supporters of Bane. Most of the time they would just talk their chalk away, crush it, and leave the boys with a warning, but a couple times the boy had been killed.

It was Allen that first came across the body of one of his friends, the man that killed him had left his body there as a warning. Allen still couldn't get the sight out of this head.

The boy's body was far from untouched, first of all he was missing an arm, and there was so much blood that Allen couldn't even recognize any of the colors he had been previously wearing. Allen only looked for a few moments before running away from the alley altogether.

The next day when he went back to cover the body it was gone, the only thing left in the alley was his chalk and a cross that someone had drawn on the wall.

Allen had been angry with himself, and sad that his friend was gone. Promising that he would continue to spread hope in the smallest of ways until the Batman returned, he never thought that he would be the next one to get targeted.

He never imagined that Cloudy would come to save him, and he didn't think that she would get injured doing it.

Slowly she went to him, her sleeve covered in red from where she had been sliced open with the clean blade of a knife. Now as Allen looked at the girl from the ground he couldn't help but think that it was his fault that she was hurt. Even now he could remember everything.

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It was a cold morning; snow had fallen the night before covering the streets like a blanket would cover a bed. It was fresh when Allen and two other boys went out with chalk in their hands, leaving footprints in the snow they were careful to stay together. Their warm breath leaving trails in the air they kept silent as they went about their business, the death of their friends had shaken them, but not taken away their vigor.

The small crunch of snow beneath their shoes was welcome in the cold silent streets, the small sound of chalk against brick, concrete, and metal was music to their ears. Leaving their mark on the city and hopefully spreading some form of spirit to anyone else that believed someone would return for them.

It was when someone shouted that Allen turned around to see a few men sprinting down the road towards them. Panic settled into his stomach and fear set in his veins as he shouted at his friends to start running, even if the men weren't looking for them they wouldn't leave them untouched.

"Back to base!" Allen shouted towards his other two friends. Base meant home and home meant the orphanage. By now the children with chalk in their hands knew to take the long way home so the men couldn't track them back to the orphanage.

Allen began to feel his breath become labored as he could not outrun adults who had much longer legs then he did, he tried his best to not slip on the snow as his legs started to fail him. He was exhausted, as one of the older kids in the orphanage part of his self proclaimed duty was to keep watch and look for food. These jobs that he had given himself were all but fulfilling, taking his sleep away from him, pushing him to complete tasks that he was not yet ready for.

With all that had happened to Allen and all that he'd seen Allen was far older than his years of life, he understood the desperation that makes people go crazy, the frantic way in which people behave when they begin to run out of food. With all this knowledge and experience backing him up Allen knew that spreading this sign of hope throughout the city was something that might kill him, but he didn't care.

Finally Allen turned the corner into a dead end, gasping and halting to pant heavily he turned round to see the three men had decided to only follow him, which meant that his friends had gotten away. The men in front of him panted from their run; piercing Allen with hateful eyes he saw that the remnants of their clothes were orange. Meaning that they were criminals in the purest form.

"Finally!" The one in the middle called out to Allen with a laugh. He was skinny, with tattoos on his hands and piercings covering his face. "Didn't think you would be that fast, but you boys sure can run," he commented reaching into his pocket and pulling out a knife.

It was odd for Allen, in movies the bad guy always had something clever to say, something sinister and crude, but this man, the way he spoke Allen couldn't push away the thought that it was almost normal. It scared Allen even more to think that evil could be so normal, it made him realize that anyone could be evil, even if they claimed they were good.

It reminded him of Harvey Dent.

The man they had praised and worshiped as a hero only to find out that in the end he was corrupt. That in the end everyone falls into the darkness of themselves to lose to the demons that lurk inside their hearts.

"Come on boy, say something!" He cheered switching the knife from hand to hand.

"Why?" Allen managed to choke out through his own fear.

The man laughed at Allen, looking left and right to his companions and mocking the boy's pure fear of them. Allen watched as the man's eyes seemed to elevate with happiness at seeing him as scared as he was, this mean that there were people that got excited by fear and pain. It was one thing to hear about, and another too see for oneself.

For most victims it's the eyes that burn themselves into their brains. The eyes of the man that tortures them, so happy and full as they plunge their knife into the skin of their victim, the feel the blood on their hands as they take someone's life.

Allen wanted to look away, he wanted to run and never see such a look in someone's eyes again, but there was no where he could run.

"All you little kids are annoying, if we kill you then we won't have any more bats plaguing our territory," he explained as if it was really as simple as that.

"What about Cloudy?" Allen asked suddenly. The man's eyes changed quickly, with bitterness he ran towards Allen quickly; taking his by the collar he lifted the boy off his feet.

"That little girl?" He asked with a sharp cackle. "I'll kill her," his breath smelled rotten, like spoiled fruit. His eyes wild with determination and rage, apparently he had met Cloudy before, and he wasn't to keen on seeing her again without revenge. "But first, I'm going to kill you and all your little friends at the orphanage," he whispered.

This made Allen gasp; it meant that he knew where they were from.

"That's right, I know where you live," he drawled out the last word.

Silently something whistled through the air and hit the man holding Allen in the back of the head making the man jump slightly. In calm rage he turned around to see exactly who he hoped he would see. Not weeks before a few of his men went missing, he later found out that the rumored girl in the gas mask has killed them after they'd tried to rape a woman.

He couldn't deny that his men probably deserved it, but still, she had to pay. He couldn't imagine how Bane's men would praise him when he killed the last little light that still glowed brightly in the city. Certainly they would hold him at the highest regard, call on him when something needed to be taken care of, he would finally hold a bit of power in the city.

"Look who finally showed up," he laughed dropping Allen to the ground before walking towards the girl.

Allen lingered on the word finally, looking to see that two more men appeared from different alleys behind the girl he gasped after coming to some conclusion.

"It's a trap, run! Run Cloudy!" He shouted towards the girl. If she died Gotham would get darker again, there would be less food at the orphanage, no one would protect the unprotected, there would be no one left.

At his outburst the man in front of him looked over his shoulder back at him, smirking before he launched himself at the girl.

"Kill her!" He shouted to the rest of his men. Getting his knife ready he was mere moments from the girl, swiping at her neck he found that she had ducked so quickly and effortlessly that he'd not seen her move at all. Pulling her hands out of her sleeves she revealed a knife in each hand that she then used to slice at the man's knee's causing him to buckle beneath his own weight.

Using her small size to her won advantage the girl ducked and dodged as if she were a rabbit running from wolves, save that this rabbit was fighting back at the same time. Slicing at one man's wrists Cloudy effectively cut his main veins, leaving him screaming on the ground she went to the next man who swung a baseball bat around like it was a flyswatter. After watching his allies go down screaming he wanted nothing to do with the girl.

There were only two men left at this point, crazy baseball man and a man with a knife that was running towards Allen with frightening speed. Seeing this Cloudy ducked quickly under the bat and sliced up the man's front, leaving him to pat and scream at his now opened body.

Allen was staring petrified at the man coming at him with a knife.

"I can at least kill you," he shouted before driving the knife towards him.

Allen shouted out in pure terror and closed his eyes, opening them when a drop of blood landed on his face. His eyes darted quickly around what was in front of him, Cloudy was just above him, blocking the man's knife with her arm. Allen could see a long angry line of red that slowly started to seep through her jacket and stain the fabric crimson, another drop of blood landed on his face as he stared wide eyed at the girl above him.

Without a sound she pushed the man off her, catching the man in the neck with her knife she tore it quickly away before blood could cover it. The man choked and gagged before blood started to seep out of his lips, falling backwards he lay lifeless on the ground and the snow around him began to turn red.

Allen looked up at her as she turned to go back to the first man she had injured, the man that had spoken to Allen first. He was trying his best to get away, clawing at the snow frosted ground with his fingers as his legs had been slashed and were failing him. Even from where Allen was he could see the frantic desperation in the way the man moved, the way his fingers would slip and the man would gasp and shiver.

Cloudy walked over to him with cautious steps, avoiding the men on the ground around her she went to him, picking his knife up off the ground she stood a foot away from him as she still tried to get away.

"No," he gasped seeing her feet in the snow next to him. "Please let me live, you won't see me again," he pleaded looking up at her gas mask. He'd never imagined a gas mask could look so scary, but now as he looked up at the girl he'd hated, the girl that wore a gas mask and never spoke to anyone, he knew true terror. "Please," he pleaded with her pathetically.

With a single flip of her wrist the man's own knife stabbed into his back, making the man cry out in sheer pain he began to sob and curse at her.

"You're not human; no one could be this cruel. You're a mons-," before the man could finish sentence Cloudy took her own knife to his heart, stabbing through his back until all he could do was make bubbles with his own blood.

She hated that word.

Now Allen watched as Cloudy came back to him, letting her injured left arm hang almost limp at her side she walked slowly over to him, placing her knives back in her bag. Allen could faintly hear her breathing, perhaps it was from the blood loss, or the fight that she had just finished. As soon as he thought he'd heard it she stopped breathing so deeply, pulling him up by his jacket he got back onto his feet.

Tentatively she brought her right hand into a fist up to her stomach, rubbing it in a circle on her chest. Allen wasn't sure what it could possibly mean, but he didn't care, she'd saved him, and he was very grateful for that.

It was so very odd for him, hearing about Cloudy, seeing her at the orphanage and finally being saved by her, at the moment all he could see were the faces of the men she had so quickly killed. Hearing them scream out in pain he couldn't help but feel fear when he looked at the girl, above all else the gas mask made her seem inhuman.

"Thank you," he finally managed to get out. Though his voice sounded weak and shaky the girl seemed to understand, quickly she reached into her bag, rummaging through a few things before she seemed satisfied with whatever she had done.

Reaching for his hand Cloudy grabbed a hold of it before pulling Allen along with her, Allen was already fifteen, one of the oldest in the orphanage he was tall even though he had yet to go through the change. He had to admit it was a little odd that Cloudy was shorter than he was, how could someone so small be so strong? It reminded him of her injury, seeing that there was still blood dripping down her arm Allen felt a bit of urgency arise in him, she needed help now.

When finally he figured out that Cloudy was leading him back to the orphanage he ran ahead of her, letting go of her hand he rushed up to the doors and knocked on them loudly, announcing that it was him. Calling out the secret word that the boys had agreed to use the two boys that had gotten home safely greeted him with a few hugs and pats on the back.

"We thought you were dead," they said in broken voices. Allen looked at them suddenly excited.

"Cloudy saved me, she got rid of all of them," he exclaimed watching as their eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?" One of them was skeptical.

"Look she's right there," Allen shouted pointing back towards the sidewalk. His face fell when he saw that there was no one there anymore, Cloudy was gone.

At that time a man named John Blake came to the door with a slightly irritated look on his face, Blake often came to the orphanage with food and clothing, staying to help as he had grown up in the very same orphanage.

"Allen get back inside and close the door," he ordered glancing around the empty street. It wasn't safe anymore, one couldn't just leave the door open until everyone was back inside, and it was like in school when there was a lockdown. It just wasn't safe anywhere anymore.

Allen grew angry at his friends, how dare they not believe him! How else would he have survived when three men were chasing him?

"What's on your hand?" Blake questioned with a serious look on his face. He then began to look the boy over feeling that something was off about him.

Glancing down at his own hand Allen froze, there was blood on his fingers, not his blood, Cloudy's blood.

"Allen, why is there blood on your face?" Blake asked noticing a bit of blood that Allen had tried to wipe off his face. At this point Allen started to glance around the streets frantically, he'd forgotten all about Cloudy's injury, he'd just been so excited that he'd seen the girl and wanted to tell everyone. "Are you injured?" Blake questioned him further.

"It's not mine, its Cloudy's," he shouted at them bitterly. Why didn't they believe him?

"What are you talking about?" Blake demanded of the boy.

Allen locked his lips together tightly, Blake had warned them to stop drawing bats during the day when people could catch them, and he didn't want any more of them to end up dead in an alley. If Allen told him how he'd almost been killed Blake would never allow them outside again. But Cloudy was injured, and if anyone could help her, or find her for that matter, it would be Blake.

"Greg, Jason, and I went out this morning to draw bats," Allen said under his breath. Blake's eyes grew stiff and angry at his words. "Some guys started to run after us, so we split up and they started chasing me. I couldn't outrun them, they caught me in an alley and pulled a knife on me, I thought I was dead," he shuddered at the memory. With that simple thought everything came back to him, all the blood, the screams, the faces twisted into expressions of pure agony, the red dress, and the gas mask.

"What happened?" Blake pressed him.

"I was just about to get stabbed when Cloudy saved me, she protected me and killed all of them," he said proudly. "But, she's injured, her arm got cut. And she's out there in the cold, there's so much blood," he muttered remembering how her blood had dropped onto his face. The sickening warmth of her blood had retained its temperature for only a moment before it was cold and putrid; he tried to rid himself of it with the sleeve of his jacket. Traces remained on the edge of his cheek.

Blake didn't know what to say. He'd definitely heard about this girl, Cloudy is what the kids called her, he'd only seen her at the orphanage once, and as soon as he tried to get over to her she was gone. Gordon made no comment towards the girl, only saying that if she had any sense she would hide herself away before Bane got to her. Blake had to say otherwise, he thought it was just what the city needed, a new hope, a match to start a fire, that's what she was.

He had to admit that the gas mask made her look out of place, as if she had just jumped out of an old nuclear bomb photo, but he didn't care. The fact that she would even come to help the orphanage made his smile at the mere thought of her, she'd saved Allen.

"Stay here, close the door," Blake muttered to the boys coldly. Quickly he pulled out his gun and sprinted off down the snow covered street, looking for any sort of clue, but all he had to go by was the faint footprints that anyone could have left.

It was folly of him, to run through the streets of a tainted city hoping he would find that small bit of light that Cloudy was. She was smart enough to know that she needed to hide herself away from anyone that might want to kill her, and if she was injured she would need medical attention.

The air was cold as he tried to control his breathing, for all he knew she was running the opposite direction of him, she might not even be near him at all, but he felt like he had to try. If she died at the hands of some criminal where would Gotham be then? The soft crunch of snow beneath his shoes made Blake freeze, if she was anywhere near him he might be able to hear her crunch through the snow.

Calming his breath Blake listened intently for any sign of movement, anything that would show him she was near. Off to his right there was the faintest of sounds, immediately Blake was after it, letting his back hit the cold brick wall of a building he waited silently for his chance to look around the corner to see who was there.

Taking a shallow breath he moved ever so slowly out so his eyes could see everything in the street, but his eyes only focused on a certain part of the entire space around him.

Just as he had looked around the corner a tall man kneeled on the ground next to a child, one whom he presumed to be Cloudy and the other was a stranger to him. The man wore a black suit that looked older than most, almost as if he had stolen it from a costume shop, but it looked more vintage then a cheap rip off would appear. The man began to wrap something around the girls arm, being ever so gentle and careful; Blake forgot to move back when the man suddenly turned his head towards where Blake was.

For a small moment Blake and the man held each other's gaze before the man turned back to the child and spoke in hushed tones. The man then stood up, looking to be around six feet and a few inches tall, it made the girl look tiny as she stood next to him. Slowly Cloudy turned to face Blake as well, he could feel the cold gaze that she gave him even with the gas mask covering her face.

The tall man took Cloudy's hand and began to walk away from Blake before he finally came back to the world of the thinking and reacting.

It looked like the girl was okay, she had a friend with her in Gotham, and here everyone thought she was alone, living in the streets and appearing out of the sky like Batman had always done.

Glancing back down the street to make sure no one else was around Blake took a step towards where Cloudy and the tall man used to be, turning to look for them he found that they were gone. Suddenly running towards the spot that they used to be Blake found where the man had kneeled help the child, finding that the snow had slightly melted from body heat. Inspecting the ground further he could see that there was a drop of blood that had fallen into the snow and stained the white substance.

Allen had been telling the truth then, Cloudy had been injured, but who was that man?

Throughout all the rumors of Cloudy, all the stories and gossip that went through the city like wildfire, there had never been any mention of a tall man in an old vintage suit. Blake suspected that still there would be no talk of such a man, for some reason Blake knew that he was perhaps the only person that had ever seen him.

Retracing his steps back to the orphanage Blake could only imagine what it could have been like for Allen, he knew that Cloudy fought with knives and would sometimes leave the rapist or murderer to bleed out of the streets. How loud had they screamed? How much blood had there been?

This was perhaps the only thing that Blake did not approve of Cloudy for, she could easily leave everyone injured, or let them off with a warning, but she didn't.

Why did she kill them?

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**Every chapter should be around 4,000 words each, although sometimes you may get a bit more if I'm feeling overly creative.**

**Do continue to read.**


	3. Sign Language

**Home is a funny word.**

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Cloudy didn't show up for about a week after the little incident with the orphan boys, again rumors spread quickly that the little masked girl had been injured, there was even talk of her being dead. Everyone knew that wasn't the case though, in fact Blake was certain that she was still alive. He wanted to work with her, obviously she could pull her own weight, and she'd been keeping criminals at bay in the city for weeks.

Of course he had many questions for the girl, where did she hide when she wasn't walking around the city? Why did she fight for such a losing cause as Gotham? Who was the man he'd seen her with? Would she help them revolt when the time came?

Living up to her nickname Cloudy appeared at the orphanage on another cloudy day, this time she bore a few decks of cards and a bag of canned food items that she placed gently on the ground. Deena, one of the few volunteers still left at the orphanage was always the first one to greet the girl.

"It's been a little longer since your last visit, did something happen?" The kind woman asked curiously.

Cloudy didn't answer, she had a new coat and dress on today, with warm looking black tights, fading grey boots, and a grey dress that went down to her knees, Cloudy stood silent with her mask staring up at the woman. Her long black hair seemed longer today, going to her mid back it hung in loose curls which was elegant but odd next to the alienated form of the gas mask on her face.

Deena hadn't heard about how Allen had been saved by Cloudy, he'd decided to keep the story amongst his few friends, for if the volunteer's found out they wouldn't be able to go outside at all anymore. Deena couldn't see the bandage underneath Cloudy's sleeve; she didn't know anything about the girl other than the fact that she was protecting the city while Batman was away.

Turning to leave Deena stopped the girl shortly.

"Thank you," she said in a sincere voice. "We don't know where you came from, you won't talk to us, but you still help us," she whispered so the boys in the room wouldn't hear. They always stared at Cloudy like she was some sort of myth or legend. "We really appreciate this," she said before turning away for a second.

Before Deena could say anything else Cloudy was already walking away, reaching for the door she pulled back for someone was already opening it.

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Blake walked briskly through the streets towards the orphanage; he'd been going there every day since he'd seen Cloudy disappear with the unknown man that stood beside her. Every day he hoped that he could talk to her, or talk at her, she could help him, and he needed the help.

Looking back at the streets he tried to recall the look on the man's face as he'd stared at him, it was hard to imagine that it had happened at all, for Gotham looked like a different city without snow covering the streets. Of course there had been tire tracks that would take some of the snow along with it, but the sun, took all of it, it was the sunny days that Gotham now disliked the most, because Cloudy did not come out of hiding when the sun raised high into the sky. Why? No one knows, but the criminals and thieves take advantage of this and do what they can while the sun is on their backs because when the clouds come out. There is no where that they can run.

In her own way Cloudy could be considered more feared than the Batman, where she does not measure to his size or his gadgets, his weapons, there is something that she can do that the Batman cannot. All of his victims, all of his arrests and witnesses, all of them still live, but Cloudy. She is not afraid to kill, she does not spare anyone who goes against what she stands for, once one commits a crime and is caught, all of them are wicked in her eyes.

She does not let them live.

Blake had only seen one of her enemies, the aftermath of what happened anyway. She'd killed him by taking the man's own gun away from him and shooting him in the knees, she then let him struggle and wiggle away from her for a few hundred feet. Then she'd shot him in the head, letting his brains scatter across the pavement of the street around them.

She then had taken apart the gun and left the pieces in the street, leaving the man's body as a warning to anyone who wanted to try something against her. Blake didn't agree with her methods, he didn't agree with hoe she took care of things, but he had to admit that there were less crimes in the lawless city. He just had to wonder what Bane thought of everything; certainly he would catch such a person as this, and stop her from spreading hope throughout the city.

With this still bright in his mind Blake pulled open the door to the orphanage, grumbling in anger at whoever had left the door open he came face to face with the foreign sigh of a gas mask. His eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the very person he had been thinking about so much for the past few days.

Taking his chance Blake closed the door behind him, successfully locking the girl into the building and catching the attention of Deena and a dozen other boys. Glancing around at the curious faces of the boys Blake sighed and tried to shoe them away but they budge.

"Thank you for what you've done for us here," he muttered trying to make the girl relax as she looked a little tense.

She stared at him, or what he assumed her to be staring at, the glass over her eyes on the mask was tinted slightly so he could not see her eyes. The way she stood suggested that she did not trust him, and if he gave her a chance to do anything she would run away.

"Will you not speak to me?" He asked feeling frustration rise in his throat. She could do so much for the city, so much to help people that suffered silently behind closed doors, she could be great, and yet she said nothing. "Say something," he said letting his eyes fall in disappointment.

For a moment there was silence in the room, a rare moment where Deena had nothing to say, and the boys around them kept their mouths shut. Very slowly she brought her right hand up to about shoulder level and made a little movement with her fingers, something that looks like the motion for a shadow puppet. Blake stared at her with frantic desperation, Gordon was beginning to show signs of wear as the Batman took longer and longer to return.

"She said no," a voice came from within the group of boys.

Glancing over into the group of them the boys parted away from a kid with reddish brown hair and green eyes, he looked nervous with everyone staring at him.

"What?" Blake asked the boy. The kid looked frightened to say the least, for now Cloudy had turned towards him as well, casting her own foreign gaze at him, letting the gas mask do most of the work he looked truly shaken by the sight.

"She said 'no'," he muttered doing the same little hand motion that Cloudy had done not moments before. Blake turned back towards Cloudy to see that she was staring at the boy still, unmoving until again her hands started to make a more motions and symbols. The boy in front of her looked taken aback before he responded with motions of his own.

The room was silent as they had their own private silent conversation; slowly Cloudy brought her right hand up to her chest and rubbed it in a circle, just as she had done to Allen. She then made a few more motions before turning towards the door to leave; when Blake tried to stop her she shrugged him off, making one last motion before running out the door.

There was a blast of cold air that swept into the building as she left, leaving everyone silent Blake turned towards the child that had spoken up while everyone was silent. Walking into the group of kids Blake placed his hand gently on the child's shoulder before he got down on his knee so he could look the kid in the eye.

"What's your name?" He asked the child kindly; there was no reason to freak him out.

"Thomas," the boy said letting his voice shake.

"How did you know what she meant?" He asked even with all the other children around him.

"Sign language," he said looking around at all the other boys in the room. Sometimes they made fun of him for knowing how to sign.

"What did she say to you?" He questioned. It sounded weird of him to ask what she said when really there had been no speaking included in anything about her; no one had ever heard her say a word to anyone.

"She asked me what my name was, and then she told me that she was sorry," he said looking up at Blake with a sense of pride about him.

"Why? Why was she sorry?" He persisted.

"Because she wouldn't tell me her name," he let his voice fadeout at the end.

Leaving the boy with a pat on the back and a gracious thank you Blake was back out the door running quickly towards where Gordon was currently hiding, this was big news. Or perhaps it wasn't, but it was something new about the mysterious girl that no one else knew currently. Despite all her vague disappearing acts and secrecy she had communicated with someone, and now he knew that she could communicate.

There was no way of knowing whether or not she was deaf, or if there was something else that was wrong with her, but now there was a means of talking with her. Even if she wouldn't listen to him or anyone else who yelled and screamed at her, she would talk to Thomas because they could talk without words.

It was definitely weird to find out that Cloudy spoke in sign; after Thomas explained what each sign meant Allen came forward to announce that the girl had told him she was sorry one day. Leaving out the parts where he was almost killed and Cloudy had been injured of course, but it was something exciting. Needless to say no one would pick on Thomas anymore after today.

* * *

Cloudy ran through the streets of Gotham, just as she did every time the clouds came by to cover up the sun, the snow from the other day was mostly gone. Leaving small traces in the creases of the sidewalk and in the shadows of buildings but nothing more, she almost missed the soft crunching sound of the snow beneath her feet.

She's almost been angry when the boy at the orphanage had spoken for her, she didn't want her words to be heard, merely understood, and words can be such an ugly thing. She had to admit that it was a relief to sign with such a child though, Thomas was his name, an orphan, and she wondered how he'd learned such a language as sign.

The other day when she'd been injured the man called Blake had come running after her; she could hear his footsteps in the snow as if he was a blundering animal trying to find its footing in the dark. He seemed like a good man but his head seemed to be filled with hope and faith, in the Batman is what she'd heard.

Perhaps it would be considered strength for most people, to still believe in something even in such a place where everything has been taken away, and only the smallest most trivial things can be returned. He'd asked her if she was going to say anything, is she was going to talk at all, no, of course she'd say no.

Why one might ask. Why won't she speak to anyone? Of course this question would be left unanswered as well. There was no point in talking if no one was going to listen, there's no point in believing in something when it makes no difference in comparison the world. There's was no reason for her to speak at all when silence is so much more terrifying.

Words can only be used correctly by the powerful.

* * *

It was already almost sunset when Bane had finally decided what he was going to do about his little problem. When the rumor had gone around that the girl was injured he'd sighed in disappointment, had his entertainment already died and left him? No, of course it hadn't, if Cloudy was anything he thought her to be she would not let herself die until the city around her fell to ashes at her feet.

She was a hard person to find, always popping up around the city; he couldn't seclude a certain area without her finding it. He'd considered using the people she helped as bait to lure her in, but the number of people she saw was so great it was hard to tell which of them were going to be dead by her hands and which would receive something from her to survive.

Cloudy was smart, she knew which men answered to him in the city, and which men were simply criminals chasing after something shiny, she left his men alone as best she could, knocking them out and leaving them on his patrol routes.

Recently someone had taken a picture of the girl, a far off picture of a person wearing a mask on their face and walking into the darkest parts of the town, one wouldn't immediately claim it to be her. But by now everyone in the city knew it had to be her, who else would simply walk out in the middle of the street and not get attacked.

The man who took the picture somehow figured out a way to make copies which he quickly distributed to people who put them all over the city, bearing words of hope that made Bane want to laugh.

We're not alone.

They were simple, simple words that had nothing to do with what Cloudy had accomplished over the course of time that she had appeared in the city. The girl was merely a sheriff of sorts, a cop with no laws other than those to protect the weak and weary and kill all those that opposed. This was not her city, Bane could tell that much as she sometimes walked aimlessly through the streets like a lost dog looking for something to do.

It was hard for him to figure out why she had taken it upon herself to help such a worthless and tainted city such as Gotham, why would she want to get her hands so dirty? She was starting to bring hope back into the city, and he would not allow such a city as this to feel hope return to it once again.

It was time to catch Cloudy, he wasn't going to kill her, there was no fun in that at all.

He was going to keep her as an example as what happens to people who resist, he would lead Gotham to believe that all their hope was finally gone, that they deserved this. If he could make Gotham give up Cloudy to himself then they would have no one to blame but themselves.

* * *

The scream erupted through the streets like a sneeze in a silent library, unnecessary and shocking, unlike a sneeze the scream help so much emotion and pain one would shiver and quake at the mere sound of it.

There was a man in the lower parts of Gotham that had been lucky enough to have missed Cloudy the last few times his did his dirty deeds. People had taken to calling him Uproar, because whenever he killed people or hunted them down the sound of their screams and begging was so deafening and dragged on for so long it made them wan to puke.

He liked to take his time when he killed people, mostly women, he enjoyed hearing them scream and beg for any type of mercy that a man like him might have, though they knew in the pits of their hearts that he had none to give. He usually started with the fingers, cutting them off and then proceeding to pick them up and hold them in front of his victim while they cried and bled.

By the time he was done with them their bodies were unrecognizable, their faces so slashes and bloodied no one wanted to go near them in order to clean them up and figure out who they were. Usually within a few days their body would disappear and a white cross would adorn the alley or the wall upon which they had been left for their bodies to rot away. No one knew he drew the crosses or where the bodies went, but it was a nice thing to see, instead of a dead body a cross. The only bad thing was that there were many crosses drawn upon walls all over the city; it made people realize just how many others had been killed.

By now the streets were empty and the air was more silent than it had been all week, even the soft chattering from inside buildings had been quieted and erased. Perhaps the people within were pulling pillows over their heads hoping it would block out the sound of what was to come. Children would be picked up and held close, their parents and siblings hoping that maybe they would be less afraid of the screams if someone they loved was holding them.

In a certain alley a young woman cried as she looked up at the man that everyone feared, he was younger than she thought he might look, with crazy eyes that held an air of emptiness about them. He might be considered attractive if he wasn't such a freak, her own thoughts made her gag, how could something like him ever be considered as attractive?

"Please let me go," she cried out trying to get away from him.

The man smiled at her before kicking her several time in the side, listening to her cry and beg for him to stop and have mercy on her. Picking her up by her long brown hair he breathed heavily in her ear live a diseased dog.

"Keep screaming, keep begging, keep crying," he whispered tugging at her hair again. She whimpered when he got closer to her. "I like it when they scream, scream louder, I want everyone to hear you," he drawled out the last word.

Dropping his hold on her hair he turned back towards the street, glancing around frantically he smirked when there nothing at all in the streets in front of him. Looking up at the sky to see the clouds covering the sun he wanted to laugh even more.

"Isn't there anyone that wants to stop me?" He yelled through the streets. He did this every time before he started, screaming up at the skies when he knew that no one would answer and that no one would stop him.

Feeling satisfied with himself he turned back towards his new girl to see that she had gotten up and was trying to run away. His eyes widened with excitement when he saw this, certainly this would be more fun than the last girl who had screamed and cried and done nothing to even try and run away. Saying nothing in response to her pleas and apologies as she saw that it had been a mistake he slowly took her hand in his.

A sickening crack sounded throughout the silent street as he broke the girl's finger, taking a step away from her to watch as her face writhed and twisted in pain he smiled at her warmly. Too absorbed in his business to hear anything else he gasped when a shot ran through the air and a hot fire bit into his left shoulder.

"Cloudy?" He asked turning around to face the girl. He hadn't seen the mystery hero before, heard that she wore a mask and that she let her victims suffer when they deserved it, he knew that she was going to catch him eventually.

There were some things that he believed to be lies, a few things that he'd heard about her that he just now admitted were true. She did, in fact, look like a child, her red dress had been replaced with a grey one, the other thing he thought to be a lie was the way she killed people, he didn't think she would let them suffer.

"It is you!" He said with a grin spreading across his face. "Hey," he held his hands up walking towards her slowly. "I'll have you know that I am your biggest fan," he laughed, by now he was a few feet away from her.

She made no moves to get away from him or even answer him for that matter, and that made Uproar excited. He'd been shot before, multiple times, and still he'd beaten the guy that held the gun at him, why would this child be any different? From what he could tell the girl barely came up to his shoulder, it made him feel like a giant as he towered over her.

Without warning he went for her gun, knocking it from her grasp he went for her arms, if he could restrain the girl and then break her legs she wouldn't be able to get away from him even if she wanted to. Surprisingly enough she dodged him, he hadn't been expecting that at all, a child who could fight, that was something new.

Quickly he pulled a knife on her, and she followed suit, taking out two of her own knives she swiped at him with trained patience while his attempts were wild and impatient. They clashed a few times but really it was Cloudy that was making all the hits, cutting up his arms and getting a couple deep cuts into his stomach he was the one slowing down while she continued to lash out at him showing no signs of letting up.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out into the air making Uproar and Cloudy freeze before Cloudy slumped forwards slightly, glancing down at her leg she saw that the bullet and ripped through her tights and part of her leg, tearing through the skin she started to bleed heavily. Uproar also looked down at her now injured leg before taking it as an advantage, he'd lost his knife a little bit ago but it didn't stop him from wounding her further.

"Now you're mine," he whispered to her before going for her face.

She dodged it feebly taking a shot in the stomach and another to the shoulder; she could feel her vision start to get fuzzy. Rearing back with her fist she concealed a smaller knife inside of it, when he opened up to her she punched him in the face, tearing his cheek apart he cried out in pain and held his face in his hands. Seizing the moment as her own Cloudy pulled away from the fight and reached for the gun that had been abandoned on the ground for quite some time.

She felt her breath catch in her throat as her fingers grazed just the top of it before someone pushed her onto the ground from behind, she tried her best to block the blow from her body. With her current wounds affecting her it took Cloudy a few moments before she backed up and turned around to face the man that was giving her so much trouble.

A large hand appeared from behind Uproar, it grabbed onto the man's bloodied neck before tightening and snapping it as easily as if it were a twig. Cloudy used to chance to struggle to her feet and move away as Uproar's dead body fell to the ground, in his place stood a man she had only heard of and never seen.

He was huge compared to her small form, larger than Uproar had been and healthy with muscles beneath his skin, it would intimidate anyone that was confined to Gotham's streets.

"Hello," the man said simply.

His voice sounded metallic and mechanical, she could hear him breathe ever so faintly, his voice sounded odd but somehow Cloudy felt that the voice would only sound good from his person. Behind him were three men, each of them held guns and glanced around the area as if they were waiting for something to happen.

Cloudy looked up at him without fear or remorse for her actions, she had heard the rumors that he was looking for her, that he was interested in her. She didn't know what it would mean when they finally caught her, not that she cared, she could die. Taking a shaky step away from him made Bane look down at her injured leg before he looked back up at her masked face. She was breathing hard, trying her best to control it, she couldn't let the man know that she was going to pass out soon, she could still get away.

"I apologize for your leg, the incident has been dealt with," he said motioning over towards a dead body behind him. Cloudy let her eyes glance over to the body as well, had they been trying to help her? Of course if they had it was only because they wanted her alive instead of the man she was fighting, the man had probably missed and shot her by mistake, but no matter, he was dead now.

Looking up at Bane again she slowly picked up her knife that he fallen on the ground and stuck it in her bag carefully, watching the man the whole time. Putting her other knife in her bag she touched something else briefly before letting her hands hang freely by her sides.

"I see it's true that you do not speak," he said taking a powerful step towards her. Mirroring his movements she took a step away from him. "Now, now I just wanted to see who you were," he explained putting his hands up to show he meant no harm. "You can leave if you want to," he said bending down to where his mask was in front of hers.

Cloudy took another step away from him, knowing that she could make it around the corner before she'd black out, but that was all. What should she do?

* * *

When the bullet that was meant for the criminal struck Cloudy instead Bane had been furious, turning quickly to the man that had fired he broke the man's neck in seconds. He had wanted to see Cloudy's strength, he'd wanted to see how she would stand up to him with her own silence, and now she was injured giving him an advantage that he hadn't wanted.

Watching her fight was entertaining, her small form twisted and moved faster than the man above her could even dream of moving, and she was cold and relentless with her weapons in her hands. But now that she was injured the criminal fighting her had the advantage, landing punches he previously would have had no chance to even try. Still she was better than him, slashing out at his face she cut him deep, even then her injured leg slowed her down.

Walking briskly up to the man Bane took his thin neck in his hands, snapping it and letting the man's body fall onto the floor he began talking to the girl they called Cloudy. Although the conversation was all one sided, as she would not speak to him, he could feel that the air about her was defiant and strong.

When he gave her the option to leave the girl thought it over for a moment before making a small motion with her hands that he didn't care to follow, for he was watching her legs shake as she held herself up.

Turning to leave him behind he had to admire her strength, most of his own men wouldn't even be able to stand with a wound like that, and here she was walking away from him. She didn't turn around once to see if she was being followed, for he knew that every step she took was a challenge in itself. Finally at the end of the block she slumped forwards ever so slightly before she fell onto the concrete.

Taking slow steps towards her body Bane stopped next to her when he saw that she was still shaking, he could hear her breathing harshly through her mask, and she had put her hands beneath her chest trying her best to push herself back up. It almost made him laugh.

"Dear child," his voice ran out into the empty street. "Won't you let me help you?" He asked, though it wasn't as much a question as a statement. "These people that you help," he said motioning towards all the buildings surrounding them. "Don't you know that they will only abandon you?" He questioned looking back down at her.

She didn't answer him, not that he had thought that she would, but it made him wonder if she would ever speak to him, and if she did, what would she say?

Finally her body went limp and motionless as Cloudy gave in to unconsciousness. Gently he picked her up, carrying her in his arms like a father might carry his daughter up to bed when she had fallen asleep. He didn't remove her gas mask, there had to be a reason as to why she had it on, perhaps it was the very reason why he wore his mask.

It was a weird feeling to be carrying something, someone that had grown so important over the past two months, someone that carried so much weight, and yet she was very light. Finally he had the one that they called Cloudy, the girl that never spoke to anyone.

* * *

**I think I'm going to like writing this story. **

**Do continue to read.**


	4. Empty Canister

**Being alone sucks.**

* * *

After Cloudy had left the orphanage people started talking, it wasn't long before the rumor was spreading quickly throughout the city, making certain people feel a tad bit prideful if they could. Cloudy knew sign language and had communicated with an orphan boy, still she hadn't spoken, not a word had been breathed, but she was trying to speak to people.

This discovering made people think and wonder about whether or not Cloudy had said something to them when they had been saved by her, or when she had helped them. Needless to say it was a popular topic that morning; it was only later in the day that the topic changed to something a little more shocking.

Someone had seen the whole fight between Uproar and Cloudy, they had been waiting for her to win so they could spread that bit of reassurance throughout that part of the city, instead they watched painfully as Bane appeared. He hadn't fought the girl, they spoke to each other before she walked away, limping and struggling to put one foot in front of the other she finally collapsed. Moments later Bane was at her side, picking her up and disappearing with her into the city, that bit of news traveled faster than anything in the city.

Cloudy had been captured by Bane.

Of course Bane and his men also heard the rumors, but the only one that interested him was the knowledge of Cloudy speaking sign language. It was unclear of when, if ever, Cloudy would speak to him using her own voice, so if he could find someone that spoke sign as she did, perhaps he would have some answers to his questions.

First Bane took care of Cloudy's wound, cutting off part of her tights he glanced over the naked skin of her legs seeing various marks and scars that marred the pale color of her skin. Wrapping a bandage around the gash in her shin he sent out for someone in his company that might know sign language or even the basics of it. He set Cloudy down next to him in the vehicle he was currently situated in; taking one last look at her he caught sight of something red and angry blotting through left jacket sleeve.

Carefully he pulled off her jacket to see that there was a bloody bandage wrapped around her arm, taking is off gently he let his eyes harden as the cloth stuck to her wound like tape. Still he remained patient with it and pulled the rest of the bloodied thing off of her, looking over the wound as if inspecting it Bane let a sign leave his mask.

Barsad looked at the girl with a bit of a grimace on his face, she looked to be but a child and she sustained such injuries. Yet she would go out into a city full of criminals and murderer's every day to fight for a lost cause, all the while biting back the pain her body went through. Surely she knew that a city such as Gotham was as good as lost when people ran rampant through the streets killing anyone to get their hands on food. Of course she knew, and still, she continued.

"What if she doesn't talk?" Barsad questioned looking at the gas mask she wore.

"Then we wait, the bomb goes off in a month, it shouldn't take that long to break her," Bane responded as he wrapped the girls arm in a clean bandage.

There was a single question that lingered in Barsad's mind as he shifted his gaze out the window to look out at the streets. Bane was powerful, he'd broken the Batman, unveiled secrets about Gotham that nobody had even suspected to be real, and yet there was something that he couldn't bear to ask the man.

What if she was already broken?

There are not many people that can go around a city and kill full of crime and abandonment so effortlessly, there are even less people that try to help those in need, and there are only a few that kill without taking a second glance. Of those people that can kill without remorse there is Bane, his men, and Cloudy, and it appears that almost of all them have been broken, why would she be any different?

030

Waking up with a gasp Cloudy reached for her mask on instinct, breathing a sigh of relief when her fingers touched the cold glass that allowed her to see through the mask she then let her fingers wander to her wounds. Her jacket was missing, letting her skin bristle and shake at the cold air around her; it also allowed her to touch the wound from the previous week. Due to her own physical conditions the wound had reopened from her activities and bled through the previous day until the morning when she was at the orphanage. She could only guess that her leg wound was still bleeding or had very recently stopped.

Slowly she tried to get up, finding that she had indeed lost far too much blood, as her world spun out of control she tried to get back onto her feet. It was a struggle, finally she was sitting up on whatever bed she had been laid on, she had always been warned to not move when she was at this stage.

Glancing around the room in which she was in Cloudy saw that she was merely laying on a cot situated in the middle of what looked to be a large apartment. All she could tell from where she sat was that it was night time, as the huge window in front of her was nothing but black, save for the moon shining through some clouds in the sky. Wherever Bane had taken her it was in a tall building that seemingly overlooked most of the city.

She couldn't see much in the apartment, a few shapes of whatever the man had decided to leave in the large space, thought most of it had been broken and torn from the walls as every apartment in the city had. Letting her fingers run over the bandage on her arm Cloudy let her mind wander, pulling memories from the depths of her mind she relived something similar to what probably happened in the space she presently sat.

Screams, crying, begging, all of it was real as if flashed through her mind, she heard her own voice in the mess that surrounded her younger form, calling out for something that no longer existed. Pushing herself past the pain in her legs Cloudy let her memory envelop all of her, and she stood suddenly, not even feeling the pain that had clouded her mind so previously.

A younger Cloudy hid in the recesses of a building as shapes rushed past her and tore screaming people from their beds and houses, hiding her head in her small hands she waited until the men had cleared the house of everyone. Faintly she could hear them screaming before she heard gunshots and the screaming stopped altogether, the last thing that flashed in her memory was the face of her brother before the sound of a door opening pulled her from her memory.

Just behind her a light turned on, illuminating her back she found that her legs had taken her to the window, a shaky hand was extended to touch the cold glass with her palm and fingers. She didn't turn at the sound of footsteps entering the room, at the heavy and powerful sound they gave off she knew it was Bane. Slowly Cloudy let her head droop until it was on the glass, of course it was her mask that was on the glass but she could imagine what the cool glass would feel like on her skin.

"Why," Bane's voice came from behind her. "Do you bleed so much?" He questioned glancing down at her bloody bandaged leg.

Cloudy didn't answer him, and still she did not turn. It was odd, his voice, and the way one could hear him breathing even from so far away, the way his breathing seemed to echo throughout the entirety of the room. At the same time it was almost calming for Cloudy, it reminded her of something she had long since forgotten.

Turning to look at him slowly her eyes lingered slightly on a few bloody bandages that seemed scattered throughout the room. He wouldn't know what she was going to say, but she wasn't going to let her voice out, not yet. Gently she turned her body towards him, letting out a small hiss when her leg bit out at her angrily. Her hands went to work, saying those silent words that very few people ever knew how to read, it was a language that she had learned for someone special.

"She says there is something wrong with her, that she has a disease," a voice behind Bane said with a slight shake in his voice.

Cloudy's eyes hardened when she heard that someone was translating her language so that Bane could hear what she did not want to say. Bane stepped away from the man that had spoken to reveal an older looking man with glasses and an old coat on, he looked at cloudy with curious but frightened eyes.

"You should be resting, it is probably painful for you to even stand right now," his voice ran out as he motioned at her injury.

She was about to sign that she had had worse, but a glance at the man in the door made her bite her lip beneath the mask in irritation, she only allowed one man to translate for her. His voice was smooth and understanding, this man was shaking in his boots, scared for his life if he angered the one man that had brought him here.

Still not responding to him Bane walked up to her slowly, looking down at her indifferently but with power flooding through his frame. If she angered him, or did anything to set off his anger she would be dead, which set off a question in her mind that seemed to quake in her mind. Opening her lips to speak Cloud almost bit down on her tongue, she couldn't speak to him.

Again her hands flew out into motions that made Bane excited, finally he was hearing the silent voice of Cloudy, her thoughts and musings, he was anxious when her hands had first moved to answer his question.

"She asks why you didn't kill her." The man translated glancing over at Bane nervously.

"Why would I want to kill you?" Bane asked with a bit of humor in his voice. She stared up at him; a cold air seemed to suddenly surround her as he let his eyes burrow through her mask and into her bones. "You interest me dear child, in this city full of dirt you shine clean and pure amongst the garbage and filth. And this is not even your city; you protect these people when they mean nothing to you and you to them," he spoke with great knowledge.

With that said Bane turned away from the girl, he'd watched her as he spoke, noticing the way her shoulders rose and fall while she breathed. The way a faint shuddering breath shook her small form every few seconds and the ever present tremble of her legs as she kept herself on her legs.

Without warning Bane pulled her off her feet and pushed her back onto the bed she had woken up in, staring down at her with great intensity he awaited her reaction. She gasped and shook at the force, as pain ignited across her back from a bruise that had formed over an old scar from many years before; this made Bane take a step back a little curious. Did she also have a wound on her back?

Letting his curiosity control his movements Bane carefully picked the girl up and unbuttoned the back of her dress quickly. She made no moves beneath him to struggle away so he continued; Cloudy knew that there was nothing she could do against him, so why not let him see?

Cold air met her back as Bane's eyes crossed over the expanse of her back, there was a deep purple and yellow bruise forming where she had been hit with some sort of weapon, but that wasn't what caught his attention. Her skin might have been smooth and beautiful if it wasn't for the ugly scar that covered her small back and marked her body. It was a burn scar, unforgiving and terrible looking he let her fall back onto the bed as his thoughts consumed him for a few seconds.

The bruise was obviously the thing that had harmed her when he'd dropped her on the bed, but where had she gotten such a scar from? Fire, that was the obvious answer, but how had she acquired it. Faintly his mind let images of a child flash before his eyes as he felt the familiar feeling of protectiveness flood back into his veins.

"That's an ugly scar to bear on one so young," he said taking steps away from her. Clumsy steps had the translator appear on the other side of them, just in case Cloudy decided that she was going to say something.

Bane kept his back to her as she decided to let a small bit of information out from the tresses of her mind.

"She says that when she was a child, her father set the house on fire," the man translated finding shock in his own words. "He locked her inside," he finished before looking at the ground. From where the man was standing he could see the small opening where Bane had unbuttoned the dress, and the nasty scar beneath it.

"How did you get out?" Bane questioned turning back to look at her.

She didn't answer him that time, her hands hung silently at her sides he almost wanted to shake her. She was smart, letting her story hang unanswered in air as he grasped at her past words trying to find an answer of his own, of course she had made it out for she was sitting right there in front of him. She held his stare with a defiant stature about her, finally her hands started to move in the foreign movements he wished he could understand.

"She asks: How painful is it without the mask?" The man spoke. Bane did not even look at the man anymore; his eyes were trained on the person in front of him, the girl who would not speak to him, the girl with scars all over her body.

"Extremely," he said letting his eyes tell the truth. "If I took off your mask, what would happen?" He asked curious of what her answer might be. The two of them stared at each other for a long time before her hands finally moved to answer him again.

"She says that the pain would come later, not as immediate as yours," the translation stopped when her hands stopped moving yet again.

"There was an interesting device in your bag," Bane searched her body for any sort of reaction. When there wasn't one he continued with what he had been saying previously. "When can we expect to see your friends?" He questioned. "If you tell me why you are in this city I might spare his life in favor of your words," his voice had turned cold.

She was not cooperating with him as much as he'd hoped she would, there was just nothing he could use against the girl as he still had no idea who she was and for what reason she was here. All he knew what that there was a tracking device in her bag and that someone was probably coming to get her.

"Won't you at least save the man that's coming to help you?" He asked letting the question sink in.

Bane was a smart man, who knew how to break people and make them speak and give in to him, but this girl was pushing his limits. She was something that one didn't ever see in a person, she was the kind of person that adults put in mental hospitals simply because she would not speak. At first he had merely a small interest in the girl, who she was, why she was here, a passing fancy that would leave his mind when he had captured her. But as he spoke to her and she scarcely responded he found that his curiosity was growing, not passing as he had thought.

There was a feeling within him that was staring to grow and come back to life as he spoke to such a small and insignificant person as Cloudy.

Suddenly her hands were quick as she responded, as if she was angry or something had ignited in her body to give her that burst of energy.

"She says that if you kill him, you will have killed her as well," the translator spoke again.

"Oh?" Bane mused walking towards the door and motioning for the translator to follow him. "And why is that?" He turned around to see that Cloudy was pulling herself to her feet again.

He then watched as she slowly made her way over to him, shoving past the man that had been her translator, Bane watched the whole thing. Her shaky footsteps, the way her breath choked her as she walked through the pain, the limp in her step that she tried to conceal. Everything was so entertaining and odd at the same time; it looked as if her mask was fogging up slightly from her struggle to get to where he was standing.

Finally she was in front of him, he could tell from the way she wavered on her feet that she should have passed out already, but what was she doing.

"Why do you push yourself so?" He asked with a bit of confusion in his eyes. There was no reason for her to try so hard for whatever it was she was doing, there were very few things that Bane considered worthy of dying for. For some reason he felt that this girl had no meaning to her life, that perhaps every day was just another day she didn't die.

Looking up at him Cloudy coughed a few times into her mask, letting the wheezing breaths of her body struggle through her form like a cold gust of wind. There was something terribly wrong with this girl for she looked very sick and yet there was nothing that he had done to her, just questions. Was this part of the sickness that she had spoken of?

"I jumped off the roof," she whispered to him softly. Her voice was barely audible through the mask, her tone rough and painful from who knows how long since she had used it. With that said she suddenly slumped backwards and started to fall towards the ground.

Though her words still clouded his mind Bane reached out and grabbed her before she could fall, finally she had spoken to him, finally. Though her words would not make sense to most Bane felt that he could understand what she had said, she'd answered his question. How had she escaped the house as it burned?

She'd jumped.

It wasn't so dissimilar from something that he kept in his own heart, in his eyes he saw a child, one that was familiar to him and always would be, but for a second the child changed. He found himself taken aback by his own mind and how it changed things for him, how it poisoned itself to imagine what things had been like for Cloudy. He only hoped that she'd gotten revenge on her father for what he'd done to her perhaps that was a question he would ask her when she woke up.

030

When Cloudy woke back up she was in the same room as before, but Bane was gone.

A shuddering and painful breath made her body seize and shake as another part of sickness racked through her sickly body. She started to cough, horrible shuddering coughs that left her breathless and aching for air as it seemed to be getting ripped from her body. Slowly she sat up, trying to hold back more coughs that assaulted her body and pained her soul.

Quick hands found her mask as she unscrewed the canister from her mask to look at it, it was already empty, showing its ugly red measuring system to her she cast it to the other side of the room. When she'd last left him he suggested that it was time she get a new canister, and yet she'd refused saying she'd get one when she returned.

Now as Cloudy did her best to get to her feet for it felt as if the bed was trying to consume her all of a sudden. The mask about her face that was always safety for her turned into a prison as she felt that it was choking her, stealing her breath from her lung she undid the clasps and tore it from her face. The horrible coughs brought unwanted tears to her eyes as she could no longer control her throat and close off what was coming.

Still the coughs stormed through her body, destroying any sort of senses she had, taking away her hearing and her mobility she crawled over to the glass as if her legs were broken. She didn't hear the door open, she didn't hear when someone called out to her, and suddenly there was a bottle of water next to her head which she gratefully accepted. Taking much needed gulps of it her coughing subsided for a few moments, letting her get her hearing back into accordance.

Looking up she saw a couple men, one of them she recognized from the day before, he had been behind Bane when he had first come for her, though she did not know his name, or even who he was it made her feel the least bit reassured.

030

It had been a few hours since Cloudy had passed out again, Bane had seemed slightly troubled after leaving her room, lost in his own thoughts he ordered Barsad to check up on her while he took care of a small matter with an ally.

Bane had decided to keep the girl on one of the higher floors so if she did try to escape someone would catch her before she got to the bottom of the building. She wouldn't make it very far with an injured leg anyway. There was only one guard by the door to her room, and upon Barsad's approach he looked visibly shaken and nervous about something.

"What is it?" Barsad asked before stopping when a sound caught his attention. There was a shuddering coughing sound that could faintly be heard from inside the apartment. "How long has she been like that?" He questioned a bit of edge finding his voice.

"Just a minute or so," he responded knowing that he'd done something wrong.

Giving him a sickening look Barsad opened the door quickly, glancing around the empty apartment he caught sight of the gas mask on the ground before turning his attention to the coughing mass that Cloudy was. Watching her move slowly across the carpet his eyes strained as he saw her hand leave some blood on the carpet, turning towards the kitchen he glared at the man that had been her guard.

"Water!" He shouted at him angrily.

Grabbing a water bottle from the kitchen the guard threw the bottle at Barsad who caught it and brought it over to Cloudy quickly, holding it by her head he watched as she grabbed for it. He noted the bit of red that stained her hands as she grasped the bottle.

For a few moments the apartment was almost silent, finally Cloudy stared up at Barsad with recognition in her eyes, Barsad was frozen for a moment for he could see her face. Her hair was a mess, covering parts of her face haphazardly, there were traces of blood on her lips and cheeks making Barsad wonder what was wrong with her. He caught himself staring at her eyes before she started coughing faintly again.

"Go get Bane!" He shouted at the man who was standing uselessly by the door. "Now!" He said again when the man had barely moved to do anything.

Immediately he was gone from the room, pelting down the hallway Barsad realized that he had no idea what he was dealing with and that the girl could very well die without any knowledge as to why. Picking the girl up carefully but quickly he set her on the bed, watching her shaking form stare at him defiantly, her face burned into his memory faintly.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked as she grabbed onto the blanket tightly. She didn't answer him of course, so without her consent at all he grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her as if she was cold before he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

Rushing down the hallway he made it to the stairs with no problem until he started to descend as best he could, the elevators only worked when Bane turned the power on. He would probably turn it back on when he returned, but Barsad only wished that he was here right now, what would happen if Bane returned and Cloudy was dead?

"Wait," a faint voice choked out before coughing followed.

Ignoring whatever she said Barsad made it to the bottom floor and out into the foyer before Bane made his appearance in the door. The men around keeping watch didn't know what to think of the appearance of both of them at the same time. The man that Barsad had sent to go get Bane seemed to have run off so save his own skin.

"What's happened?" Bane demanded seeing a coughing figure in Barsad's arms.

Gently Barsad placed Cloudy on the floor, letting the blanket act as a sort of bed for her to lie on. For a moment Bane looked surprised as the mask less face of his captive lay beneath him. Taking careful account of the blood on her face he looked at Barsad to see if the man had any answers for him.

Suddenly another fit of coughing spread through her, opening her eyes at the force of it she gave Bane no heed and merely continued her fit of sickness. Placing his foot next to her head Bane looked down at her, letting his breathing get louder.

"What's wrong with you child?" He asked searching for something in her naked face.

No answer of course, but perhaps she was too busy coughing to even say anything at all.

"Get a doctor," Bane spoke leaning down to pick the girl up.

Outside the building there was a small explosion, one that let smoke slowly enter the building, Bane looked up slowly to see a single man walking into the building as if nothing could touch him at all. When someone tried to open fire at him he threw something at them, it quite simply caused another explosion that caused most of the men to back off him for a bit.

"Ah, your friend has arrived," he said glancing down at Cloudy too see that there was some more blood on her face. "Let him in," Bane called out to his men loudly.

A tall man wearing an old looking suit walked into the building with a smile on his face. Black unkempt hair cut short but shaggy hung around his face as he walked into the building; he had nothing on his person save for a black bag that was loosely held in his hand.

"Excuse me gentlemen, I believe you have my friend," he said letting his eyes fall onto Cloudy's figure.

* * *

**I don't know how long this story is going to get.**

**Do continue to read it regardless.**


	5. Surgery Scars

**Depression is consuming.**

* * *

"Hello," Bane said almost cheerfully to the man. The tall man nodded at him with a gruff sort of smile on his face. "And what do we call you?" Bane asked letting his mechanical voice echo.

"I'm Doctor Cloven," the man said looking down at Cloudy with a disapproving glance. She let out a deep sigh in response to his frown, shying her eyes away from him.

"A doctor?" Bane mused taking a step away from Cloudy. "So you must be able to take care of her then," he said looking at Dr. Cloven with a serious look in his eyes. "Won't you tell us what ails her?" He questioned taking a threatening stance above her small form.

Cloven looked over at Cloudy for a moment to see that she was glaring at him darkly, he gave her a quick look that said she'd brought this upon herself. Her eyes looked away from him for a second before she looked back at him a little defeated; it was her fault that she was in such bad shape. From the look Cloudy was giving him Cloven knew that later she would complain to him about having to tell the mercenaries about what was wrong with her.

"She has Hemophilia," Cloven explained while opening his bag. He pulled out a gas mask similar to the one Cloudy had had on earlier; he also pulled out a canister and screwed it onto the gas mask with ease. "Within this canister there is a necessary filter and medicine that allows her to breathe and filter air into her body," he muttered holding the canister and gas mask up to them. He then proceeded to take a handkerchief out of his bag and throw it at Cloudy.

"Is she allergic to the air?" Barsad asked a little skeptical at what he was hearing.

For a moment Cloven was still, the brightness in his eyes receded into himself as his thoughts took him elsewhere. Barsad and Bane couldn't help but stare at the man as he tried to regain himself.

"We never could figure out what was wrong with her," he said staring at the two of them blankly without moving.

Cloven's mind had gone back to a time when Cloudy was merely another person in the hospital that he had to cure, when she was nothing more than another body that would go to the basement. He still remembered the look on her face when he came into the room with her chart in his hands, the way she glared at him with bitterness and without hope.

"Cloven," a small whispered voice called.

Immediately at the sound of Cloudy's voice Cloven was torn away from his thoughts and thrust back into the present world. The light came back to his eyes as he grinned down at the two men, the Doctor had to be at least six feet five inches tall, if not taller. Shaking his head loosely he looked only at Bane to see what his reaction was going to be.

"If she doesn't have this canister the air around her becomes almost toxic, given a few days time," Cloven murmured looking down at Cloudy as she wiped her face of blood. "She'll die," he finished before looking back up at Bane. There was still plenty of information that Cloven had about Cloudy that he hadn't spoken of, but he never told anyone that much about Cloudy, hardly anyone even knew why she wore the gas mask.

For a while Bane just looked at the Doctor, behind his knowledgeable eyes was years and years of what had happened to Cloudy, there was pain, and joy, and agony. Bane wanted to know more about the girl, where she was from, how old she was, how she had gotten this way. So many questions that for now had to be left unanswered ran rampant through his mind, Cloudy put him on edge. For now, his plan was going as scheduled, though he hadn't been expecting Dr. Cloven it would still help him with what he had planned.

"Alright doctor you can take your friend and go," he said turning to go back into the hallways of the building.

Cloven nodded towards the man, mumbling a soft thank you before stooping down towards Cloudy gently. She looked at him with shaded eyes that held back shuddering coughs and blood. Barsad watched them coldly, wondering how the doctor would help his injured and dying friend without having to do too much work.

Faintly Barsad could hear them whispering in a different language, it sounded like Russian or German, something of the sort. It was weird to think that a girl as young as Cloudy was so burdened and wounded all the time and that she was carrying such a great weight on her shoulders as a bright hope for the city. At the same time there was no shock in the way she was, for he could remember someone exactly like her, save for all the sickness and disease in her blood maybe.

Dr. Cloven proceeded to strap on Cloudy's gas mask, Barsad could hear her take a few deep breaths before she coughed a few times and the air settled into her lungs. That was when Cloven picked Cloudy up carefully; letting her wrap her small arms around his neck she clung to him like a small child would cling to their father. Before he had the chance to turn around Barsad caught sight of an ugly scar through Cloudy's clothing, a large burn mark on her back that was quickly covered by the blanket Barsad had brought her down in.

"One more thing Doctor," Bane said without turning around.

"Yes?" Cloven asked looking towards the man with a questioning glance.

"What's her real name?" He questioned turning his head over his shoulder to look at the man.

If Bane knew the girls name then he knew more about her than anyone else did, besides Cloven that was, but he felt that it would give him some sort of power over her.

"It's Ellanore, Ellanore Jameson," Cloven muttered with a small grin before turning and walking away briskly. Barsad looked after the two of them, staring at the gas mask that was Cloudy as she stared back at them; he watched them go until they were out of sight.

"Is she still interesting to you?" Barsad questioned looking back at Bane.

"Very," he said before walking towards the elevator.

With the way that the doctor had spoken of the girl, Ellanore, as he now knew, Bane tried to figure out what exactly the man was delving into. Obviously he had had a bit of a flashback when he'd spoken of what he didn't know about Ellanore's disease and sicknesses, how _they_ had never figured it out. But who were they? Other doctors, physicians, and scientists? They had names for diseases people couldn't even imagine, they knew what to do when people started to bleed from their lungs and throats, and yet they couldn't figure out what was wrong with one child. Or was Cloven part of Ellanore's family? No, they looked nothing alike, then what was it?

How had Cloven come to take care of Ellanore, certainly a regular guardian of a child would never allow her to go through town with no weapons save for knives and kill people. Was he just her doctor? There was so much more to the story of Ellanore then he knew what to do with, how would he figure it all out anyway? Ellanore certainly didn't want to talk to him, and the doctor only showed up when Ellanore was in danger, would he have to trap the doctor in order to make Ellanore talk to him? Would she even care for the man?

Ellanore was obviously not someone one comes across while walking down the road every day, without her mask on Bane had seen her look coldly at him with one green eye and one blue eye. Not many people have two different colored eyes, it was something he would have never imagined to be beneath her gas mask, but there they were. He couldn't help but think that they were beautifully unique and different, that if anyone should have eyes such as that it would be her.

There was a deep bitterness in her face that set her mouth into a frown, and at the same time he could see the emptiness that came with always being alone. The kind of loneliness that he knew well and would always know.

Sure there was the doctor that seemed to be her friend and companion, but he knew that one needed more than just a friend when it came with loneliness. Slowly it would eat away at the person, stealing from them the happiness that they might have been able to feel. Perhaps it was before the doctor had come into her life that the emptiness had settled in her heart and poisoned her soul.

At the same time her stance had nothing if not the air of determination and strength, proving to anyone that she wasn't afraid of anything, if she died, who cared, if she lived, who cared. It was in this silent question that he imagined Ellanore had found her answer that no one would care if she died. Even if she died a hero or lived a villain's life, everyone would forget about her, and they would just go on living.

How had she found her answer? That was what Bane wanted to know, for she was already broken, just as Barsad had suggested, and he didn't know why.

Was he curious? Yes, very curious.

030

For the next two days Blake ran all throughout the city, he'd heard that Cloudy had been captured by Bane and that somehow she had gotten away from him, which meant that she was somewhere in the city inured and bleeding. He didn't know why he was trying to find the girl, perhaps it was the detective in him coming to life, or the fact that Cloudy was one of the few things that was keeping the city alive.

Gordon told him to give up, there were hundreds of people that had searched the city for Cloudy, and no one had found her, how could Blake ever hope to find someone that was very good at not being found. He'd even reassured the young man that if Cloudy wanted to be found by him she would show herself, and that since her body had not been found she was definitely still alive and healing.

The commissioners word's hung dryly in the air as Blake had never hung onto the man's words since he'd found out all the lies about Harvey Dent, he couldn't let go of the fact that everything had been built on dirty ground. That all the criminals running wild and angry through the streets were because of such a lie as this, it was hard to let go of.

Any snow that had fallen previous to the day was gone, even the smallest of traces of it were water by now, but Blake was only reminded of the tall man who come to get Cloudy that one day not long ago. The way they had seemed to just disappear into the snow as if they had been whisked away by the breeze.

Suddenly there was a noise coming from a nearby alley, making Blake all but jump out of his skin and break himself from his thoughts. Pulling his gun out timidly he flattened himself against the wall in order to become unseen by anyone who might be looking for a cop to kill, he didn't plan on dying today or anytime soon. Letting his breathing vanish into the air he held his breath as if he had been dunked under water, whoever was there he was ready for them.

When a man poked his head around the corner was when Blake pointed his gun at him, surprised greatly by how daring the guy was Blake almost forgot how to speak for a few moments.

"Don't move," he said threateningly.

The man walked out from behind the alleyway, Blake could now see how tall he was, standing at almost seven feet he smiled down at Blake kindly and without fear.

"Don't worry detective, I'm all done here," the man said shortly.

Blake looked at the man anxiously, trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar to him.

"Who are you?" Blake asked in a bit of a shout. It wasn't needed and made the man frown in slight disappointment, Blake didn't know why but it felt wrong pointing the gun at the man so insistently. For a moment the man in front of him looked upset before he smiled and stooped down to pick up something from the ground.

With a quick lurching punch the man forced Blake's gun from his hand, casting it across the street he smiled down at him in the gentlest way.

"I'm sorry I don't like guns," he grinned sheepishly before looking past Blake and down the street. "Cloudy will be back on the streets tomorrow, she'll come to the orphanage and drop off some supplies, don't worry, she's fine," he said lifting a body bag onto his shoulder effortlessly.

At that moment Blake recognized who the man was. He was the man in the snow, the one that had come to get Cloudy, he had just been thinking about him and yet he looked so different from what he had imagined. The way he acted was something else that Blake had not been expecting, kind and careful, he really didn't want to hurt anyone, but then why was he here?

"Who are you?" Blake repeated the question again.

"I'm Cloudy's friend," he smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Blake persisted. He wanted to know why the man was walking around in daylight with a body bag slung across his shoulders, was he killing people? No, why would he want their bodies, Blake felt that the answer was simple and that he had not seen it yet, but what was it?

"I'm cleaning," he muttered curtly before taking a step away from the man. "Excuse me detective, the town got really dirty last night," the man said before walking away.

"Cleaning what?" Blake called after him softly. What could he possibly be cleaning in the alley; did it have something to do with the bag on his back?

"The leftovers," he explained before going on his way without a second glance at Blake.

Blake watched the man leave, unable to bring himself to say anything he merely went to pick up his gun, turning towards the man as he walked around a corner and disappeared from sight. Taking a few steps after him Blake sighed and turned towards the alley that the man had come from.

A white cross adorned the wall above a red stain that Blake could only guess was from some unlucky person who took a wrong turn at the end of the street. It was not the first time Blake had seen a white cross, he'd actually seen them all over the city, people said they marked where someone had died, that an angel had come from the sky and taken them to heaven.

Of course Blake didn't believe that tale, but after seeing the tall man from moments before he knew what he was going around town and doing. He was the angel that people were talking about, though angel seemed a far stretch for the man he had spoken to.

Why did he do it?

That was the question that kept coming back to Blake's mind as he walked back towards the orphanage. The first night after the criminals had been let out of Blackgate had been the worst, the day after bodies lined the streets and blood ran down to the sewers. It was only when Cloudy showed up that the bodies started to disappear, criminals started to get angry at whomever was doing such a thing as getting rid of the bodies that they had proudly shot down.

That was when the crosses started to appear all over Gotham, showing the people just how many people had been killed and forgotten. Soon the criminals that were angry and bitter were dead as Cloudy first showed her masked face, letting everyone know that there was still someone in the city that was fighting for the helpless.

Everything good that had happened in Batman's disappearance Bane's wake had been because of this man and his small companion, the people of Gotham, they owed them everything. Though the system at which hope came from was almost unjust to Blake he couldn't help but admit that it was working, that people were starting to regain all the hope that they'd lost.

If there was anything Blake could do to keep Gotham the way it currently was, with hope bubbling up from the hearts of the people, it was to keep Cloudy safe and unharmed. To keep her out of Bane's reach, because if the Batman had fallen at the hands of Bane, there was no doubt in Blake's mind that Cloudy would fall as well.

030

Back in her own hideout Cloudy was alone, looking over her wounds and the blood that seemed to be drying and making her clothes crusty and gross she decided that a shower would be nice, but perhaps a bath was more accessible. It was still hard to stand for long periods of time, running was a different matter all together, but she was saving her strength for the next day when she would go back out onto the streets.

Slowly she made her way to the bathroom, sliding her injured leg gently down the stairs as it started to ache and throb with pain. When was the last time that she had had the time to enjoy a bath without fear of pain or interruption? She had no answer for that; it had been a very long time since she had done anything nice for herself by herself.

The shiny metal of the faucet was cold against her hands as she turned the water on and made sure that the drain was clogged. At first the water was cold, but Cloudy didn't pull away, it was soothing to her and reminded her of the days when she would jump into a lake and revel at how cold it was against the heat of the sun. Soon the water began to get warmer and warmer until it burned her hand and made her pull away as it thundered into the tub.

Cloven had made sure that where ever they stayed had warm water, or even boiling water, as he said that showers were important when he felt that the blood on his hands and the stench of death was too much to take. Cloudy had to agree with him on that note, except that she didn't care if she had blood on her hands or if it was on her clothes, she took showers when her mind clogged up with old memories. Hoping that the water might take some of her thoughts and wash them away, that she might be able to sleep that night without waking up and wishing she was somewhere else.

When the water started to fill the tub and she could see it rising steadily Cloudy began to undress, taking a couple pills that would allow her to breathe without the mask on she sipped some water from the tub in order to get them down her throat. The hot water slid down her throat like a flame, burning everything in its path, but she didn't mind as long as the uncomfortable feeling of pills in her throat was gone she was content. The mask came off as did her dress, socks, shoes, and underwear. All that was left were a few bandages that she silently agreed she would take off when the water started to lift it off her skin in the tub.

Glancing behind her faintly Cloudy saw that there was a mirror placed misshapen against a ruined picture, she could see herself staring coldly back at her. Turning her body around she looked at the burn scar that had caught Bane's attention, she gotten it when she was eleven years old, in a way it had been the gateway, the start of everything that had happened to her since then. It all started with a single match that her father had thrown into a puddle of gasoline in her house, and everything went downhill from there.

After that she had gotten many scars from various other things that she could still remember so vividly as if it was just yesterday, there was a bullet scar, surgery scars, knife scars, and many other things that had marred her skin over the years. The slashes in her neck were the ones that she hated the most, the way it made her recall those memories that she wanted nothing to do with, and the ones that made her wake up in the middle of the night screaming. If only she could forget them.

Forcing all those thoughts from her mind she stepped into the hot water of the tub, letting a hiss escape her lips as the water made her skin burn and turn red at the temperature of it. The bandage on her arm absorbed the water like a sponge and let small ringlets of old blood seep to the surface of the water. Gentle she pulled the bandage off her skin, watching with a frown as it stuck to her skin even in the water.

It was a large tub; Cloven had been excited about finding such a nice hideout on the outskirts of the town, a large tub that could allow an adult to fully stretch out and submerge and a shower that he could adjust to his liking. He even added that he might be a little sad when they would have to leave to go for another hideout. Since Cloudy was ever so small she felt as if she could almost swim in the tub, but it was welcome as she let her body sink into the water and relax. She watched as bits of steam rose from the surface of the water and wafted into the air around her, clouding the air and making Cloudy smile at a silly thought. It was nice to feel choked from something in the air that was clean, instead of the toxins that found her body when she had no medicine to protect her.

Faintly her mind wandered over to Bane and the questions he had asked her, the questions he had asked Cloven. The masked man knew her real name now, Ellanore, her grandmother had given her that name. She was Ellanore now, not Cloudy, not some masked girl that ran around during the day and fought bad guys who killed for fun.

Bane knew who she really was now, that she was sick and diseased and hopeless without her doctor and friend beside her. There were still many, many things that Bane did not know, but for Ellanore it was the first time in a long time that anyone besides Cloven knew her name and the basics of what was wrong with her. Everywhere she went people gave her a new name, whether it be Cloudy, Grace, Gloomy, or Mary, Ellanore hated it when people gave her nicknames. Her father used to call her Wili, because her middle name was Wilhelmina, named after her mother, more than anything in the world she hated being called Wili. It brought back terrible memories for her, thrusting her into a world that she had done her very best to forget about, a world that seemed so distant and yet so close and near to her.

In Ellanore's mind nicknames were given to people you hated, or people you loved, and love was always a hard thing for her to come by, so she hated nicknames and the pain they had caused her all along the way. Cloven called her Ellanore, she liked it when he said her name, it reminded her of the way her grandfather used to say it, sometimes she would get angry at him for speaking harshly to her when she'd done something stupid and made him worry. Even then as his voice bit out angrily she would place her hands on either side of his face and look at him gently and he would calm down and apologize.

It was hard to find a friend as good as Cloven, someone who kept her secrets and saved her when she needed it, after all, he had been the first one who had saved her.

Now there was Bane and his companion who knew what her real name was. She didn't know the other man's name, even now as she let her body be engulfed by the warmth of the water she could recall the look of concern on his face when he'd handed her the bottle of water. A kind man despite hit toils and where his work placed him.

She didn't like to share, especially when it came to her friends and herself, she always felt that her past belonged in the past, that the person she presently was had nothing to do with what she'd been through. At the same time she knew that this way of thinking was a big lie, of course her past had made her into what she was, she just didn't want to relive it anymore.

Carefully she lifted her good leg out of the water in order to turn the water off, watching tiredly as her knee disappeared back underwater leaving only the whisper of ripples behind. She wasn't safe in this city anymore, Bane had captured her and seemed to like her, or at least he was interested in where she came from. He'd showed her that he knew everything that happened in the city, that he knew where to find her when she was out during the day, so she would have to be cautious from now on.

Taking the bandage off her leg gently she grit her teeth against any flashes of pain that tore through her veins and suddenly something Bane had said fleeted through her mind. He had wondered why she bled so much, and Cloven had told him so now he knew, but what did that mean.

Had he been worried about whether or not she was going to die while unconscious? For what reason, Ellanore could only think that he didn't want her to die before he figured out the answers to his questions. And that's all she was to him, answers to his questions, not a person, not someone to care about.

He just wanted answers.

* * *

**This chapter took longer, school started, health problems. Nothing to worry about.**

**Do continue to read.**


End file.
